Since mobile terminal devices, such as mobile phones, have become more multifunctional in recent years, a single device is generally provided with many functions. For example, a mobile phone may be provided with a camera function and/or a function for receiving and displaying so-called “one-seg” television broadcast. Regarding such mobile terminal devices, the suitable shapes of mobile terminal devices vary depending on the respective functions. Specifically, a mobile terminal device is normally equipped with a control portion and a display portion, and a suitable positional relationship between the control portion and the display portion varies depending on the function.
For example, a sliding-type mobile phone has a housing that is mainly divided into two parts, i.e., a fixed side housing equipped with a control portion and a movable side housing equipped with a display portion. When not in use, the mobile phone is preferably set in its most compact shape in which the fixed side housing and the movable side housing lie over each other. When the mobile phone is to be used as a telephone, the entire device is preferably made as long as possible by sliding the movable side housing relative to the fixed side housing. When viewing and listening to one-segment broadcast, the display portion of the movable side housing is preferably set in a horizontal position for displaying a television image.
Since different device shapes are suitable for the respective functions of mobile terminal devices, such as mobile phones, the most recent mobile terminal devices are changeable into various shapes. In one example of a sliding-type mobile terminal device, not only is the movable side housing slidable relative to the fixed side housing, but the display portion of the movable side housing is also rotatable to a horizontal position after the movable side housing is slid relative to the fixed side housing. If a user desires to make a telephone call using such a sliding-type mobile phone, the user may slide the movable side housing relative to the fixed side housing, and if the user desires to view and listen to a one-segment broadcast, the user may subsequently rotate the movable side housing. Thus, when making a telephone call, the mobile phone is set in a vertical position so as to allow for enhanced usability, and when viewing and listening to one-segment broadcast, the display portion of the mobile phone is set in a horizontal position so that a television image can be displayed by maximally utilizing the screen size of the display portion. When viewing and listening to a one-segment broadcast, only the display portion is set in the horizontal position and the fixed side housing equipped with the control portion remains in the vertical position so that the control portion of the fixed side housing can be readily operated.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-103989
In order to enhance operability in the aforementioned mobile terminal device, the display portion and the control portion are often integrated by using, for example, a liquid-crystal panel and a touch-screen. With such a mobile terminal device, the user can operate the mobile terminal device by actually touching the display portion while viewing an image displayed on the display portion, thereby achieving more sensitive and user-friendly operability. The touch-screen is adhered to the underside of a design panel provided on a surface of the mobile terminal device and detects contact on the design panel. Instead of directly touching the touch-screen, the user applies pressure to the touch-screen by touching the design panel.
However, when the number of times the user touches the display portion increases, external pressure applied to the display portion can sometimes cause glass or the like to break inside the device. Specifically, the user who operates the mobile terminal device presses, for example, an icon or the like displayed on the display portion, but since the display portion is provided with breakable components, such as glass which is a transparent material, there is a high possibility that these components may break depending on the pressing force.
In a mobile terminal device, such as a sliding-type mobile phone, in which the display portion is exposed on the surface thereof even when not in use, there is a possibility that the display portion may receive external pressure even when the device is not in use. Therefore, protecting the components against breakage due to external pressure is important. Even in a mobile terminal device, such as a folding-type mobile phone, in which the display portion is not exposed on the surface thereof when the device is not in use, if the device is equipped with a touch-screen, there is still a possibility that the components may break since the user can touch the display portion when the user uses the device.
Although there is a conceivable measure of disposing an additional reinforcement component around the breakable components, this measure is not very desirable as it may conceivably lead to an increase in the number of components and to an increase in the size of the device.